Maybe im making a mistake posting in earnest about LINK because everyone who's been convinced of its value is in stealth mode and its just raging fudders left behind. But I was recommended this medium article from 2018 which I think might demystify a lot of the opaque funding/token decisions the company has made (as well as the wait for mainnet):
Does anyone have a number for how much they spent acquiring Town Crier? As this article points out, it may have been a net gain. They may have spent x millions of dollars on the acquisition but that's not a loss at all--- they added its fundamental value, holdings, industry connections, and capabilities to their own. But moreover, who can quantify the boost in value to the LINK tokens and network this created, offsetting the actual cash expenditure? This is real tech they own, not just a promised mainnet.
This is a pattern of strategy Chainlink seems to have followed, and intelligently so. Recognizing the immense value that Linkpool adds by making it easy for a non-technical community to participate in nodes, they hire Jonny Huxtable. Their use of ICO money seems to have been smartly invested into acquisitions and relationships that increase the value of their token holdings, increasingly giving them the ability to leverage those tokens in further acquisitions and payment--- and, ultimately, in incentivizing various parties in the interest of developing the network.
The main FUD addressed: how can a company spend 2 years and $32 million without delivering mainnet? This answer is simple: the technical hurdles of the network have never been the real push. Chainlink's touted value is in connecting the insular tech of blockchains with real world events. More so than an engineering challenge, it is a social and political one--- how do you reshape the existing (and often hostile) API marketplace to a new model, create a framework that makes API data accessible, affordable, and navigable, create/organize a diverse community of node operators, and make the services attractive, useful, and accessible to industry? This is a dimension of social development that most freefloating blockchain projects havent had to address, and indeed its where all the hype and speculative value in link resides. It's clear that they understand this: beyond spending precious ICO money on acquisition and hiring, the bulk of their energy seems to be used in developing the connections, framework, and awareness that mainnet will require to anything more than vaporware. And that's what all the excitement here has been about. For all those who say the Tom Gonser affiliation isn't important: even if theyre not entering a direct partnership with Docusign, his enthusiasm for the project, reputation, and industry connections adds immense value to the real development of the project, as well as the value of the network and tokens that gives the company greater financial and networking latitude. Unlike many other blockchain projects, they are spending immense time and resources building their real social infrastructure before the release of their technological product, which is probably long completed.
Joseph Rogers
Of course, the company's high valuation depends on them delivering a product and accompanying infrastructure off the bat that works. People here say its way overvalued--- but is it really? As a speculative gamble, its made far more social and real world inroads than most other projects. I would venture to say that the value of the project is one of the strongest and most justified in real fundamentals even though mainnet is being withheld. I would not be surprised if mainnet release is accompanied by a reveal not just further partnerships, but also of node community organization efforts, previously obscure dealings with API providers to create a functioning marketplace, and a readymade network of applications/entities who are lined up to use it. The issue at hand has always been that if they released mainnet without any data providers, nodes, or users, who the fuck would care? And frankly as long as its significantly lower cap than dogecoin I think the valuation isnt unreasonable.
Sorry for the sloppy punctuation. I'm slightly hung over and phoneposting from the park. It's a fucking beautiful day.
